Mennonite Economic DevelopmentAssociates of Canada

Published purpose

In Kenya’s lake and coastal zones, this project will support women and youth entrepreneurs in the horticulture, poultry, and blue economy (fisheries) sectors. Specifically, it will support access to a mix of financing options, deliver gender-informed business development training, and subsidize environmentally sustainable business technologies for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The project will also work with community and government organizations to address harmful social norms and improve the business environment for women and youth. Altogether, these interventions will generate more lucrative and resilient livelihoods for women and youth; creating community spinoff benefits and contributing to a more inclusive COVID19 recovery in Kenya. Project activities include: (1) supporting entrepreneurs and businesses to add value to their production in aggregation, storage, processing and logistics; (2) developing, administering and awarding matching grants; (3) assessing, identifying, and facilitating third party investors to provide targeted, mixed loans to the small businesses whose investment readiness has been de-risked by receiving project grants; (4) administering smart incentive schemes to help entrepreneurs acquire climate-smart technologies;(5) facilitating new or improved financial services and products for entrepreneurs; (6) developing, promoting, and administering financial education to entrepreneurs; and (7) engaging policy stakeholders and community leaders in dialogues to promote women’s empowerment and prevent sexual and gender-based violence. The project expects to directly reach 250 small and medium sized enterprises (50% women-led and 40% youth-led at minimum); 30,000 entrepreneurs (60% women and 50% youth at minimum); and 100 local organizations.